If you’re at work or school, you won’t be able to access video streaming websites. Companies block access to popular sites intentionally to increase the employees’ productivity. Schools/colleges do the same so that the students can concentrate on their studies.
Frankly speaking, YouTube is not the only website you can use to watch TV shows or live soccer or cricket matches for free in India. Many media and telecom companies have launched apps with which you can watch television shows of your choice on a mobile device or smart TV whenever you’re free or bored. Here are the best live TV apps in India among the lot:
Note: To watch videos seamlessly, the user must only use the video streaming applications when a 3G or 4G connection is active.
Best Indian live TV app to watch movies, matches, shows on mobile
Hotstar (Disney+ Hotstar)
Hotstar is a popular Indian live TV app with which you can watch your favorite live sports events and TV serials on a mobile phone for free. This application lets you watch movies in eight languages. You can also watch TV shows on Hotstar. When a cricket match is live, Hotstar will make you aware of the latest scores. If you’re a big fan of English TV shows such as Game of Thrones, Veep, American Horror story, etc, you should begin using Hotstar because the application lets users watch top English shows aired in the US, UK, Australia, and other countries. Hotstar has over 50 million users. It is compatible with Android 4.0 and later operating systems. Although you can use Hotstar for free, if you want to watch premium content/movies, you’ll have to buy one of the two paid subscription plans of Hotstar.
JioTV Live Sports Movies Shows
The JioTV application was launched in 2016 by Reliance subsidiary JIO INFOCOMM. Within 20 to 30 months of its launch, JioTV became one of India’s most popular live TV apps. The live TV app from the Reliance group enables you to watch popular TV shows aired on channels such as Sony TV, Colors, ZEE TV, Set Max, etc for free. It has a user-friendly UI. It gives you access to over 350 channels in various languages and over 55 high-definition channels. JioTv lets you switch the interface language from English to Hindi, Tamil, etc. It enables you to watch TV shows aired in the last 7 days. You can also go through the schedule of your favorite channels with the free JioTV app for Android. JioTV supports Android 4.1 and higher operating systems. It has over 10 million active users.
Airtel TV (Xstream)
Airtel TV/Xstream is a free app with which you can watch 205+ channels on your smartphone or tablet. Unlike Jiotv, which is restricted to JIO SIM card users, Airtel TV is available for everyone. To provide a good experience to the users, the application checks the mobile data/WiFi connection speed and automatically sets the video streaming quality. The app allows you to watch top-rated Bollywood/Hollywood movies, trailers of upcoming films, original content, etc. It lets you pause/resume the live streaming. It has filters, a TV guide module, a search utility, and an option to create a watchlist/playlist.
Idea Movies & TV/Vodafone Play (Vi Movies)
Like Jio and Airtel, Idea + Vodafone (Vi) has launched an app through which the Idea/Vodafone/Vi SIM card users can watch TV shows, movies, popular web series streamed on ZEE5, Hungama, etc on their Android device. Vi Movies supports picture in picture mode. It lets you bookmark the TV shows/movies you’ve watched or would like to re-watch in the future. You must log in to the application with your Vi account to stream videos. Users of other telecom operators can only explore the categories or see the list of videos Vi users can watch. The Vi app’s features and content partners are the same as that of other live TV applications. It claims to give you access to over 15000 movies and 400+ channels. Only Vi SIM users can use this application.
ZEE5
Zee5 requires “location access” permission to work. The app lets you choose your preferred UI language. It enables you to log in with your social media accounts. You can also register a new a/c with your mobile number to access the ZEE5 content. Unlike some live TV apps we’ve covered here, you don’t have to register an account to watch videos with ZEE5. However, if you see a “Premium” tag on the video thumbnail, you’ll have to register an account or buy a subscription plan. Zee5 provides filters and has an option to set video playback quality. As ZEE5 lets you watch several popular channels such as ZEE TV, ZEE News, etc, it is one of the top Indian live tv channel apps.
SonyLIV
SonyLIV is yet another popular Indian live tv app for Android. It gives you access to 35000+ hours of content. LIV features high-quality content. Many movies and shows available on Sony LIV have an IMDB rating of 6.5+. LIV was not as famous as Hotstar and ZEE5 until 2020. The app’s popularity grew when the OTT service launched the “Scam 1992” show in 2020. Scam 1992 has an excellent IMDB rating of 9.4. SonyLIV adds new English movies and Hindi shows every month. The app offers two premium subscription plans. The 1st plan i.e. LIV Special, is ideal for people who are interested only in shows aired on Sony channels – Max, SET, etc. It costs between 199 to 399 Rs. The cheaper subscription plan ships with ads. The Liv Premium plan lets users enjoy premium shows, WWE, live cricket/football matches, etc for a price tag of 999 Rs. It supports 5 profiles.
Must see: Best apps like YouTube
Voot
Developed and maintained by one of the largest media companies in India i.e. Viacom, Voot has over 5 million users. It is a powerful on-demand video streaming platform that gives users access to TV shows such as Big Boss, Comedy Nights Bachao, Comedy Nights with Kapil, etc for free. Voot has an extensive collection of blockbuster movies featuring your favorite artists. Your children will love the app because Voot features popular kid’s TV shows such as Motu Patlu, Pokemon, Doraemon, etc. Like other applications we have mentioned above, Voot has an excellent interface. Voot supports Google Chromecast, and it is fully compatible with tablets. It works on mobile devices running on the Android 4.2+ operating system.
Amazon Prime Video Streaming service
In 2017, Amazon, the eCommerce giant, introduced its video streaming service in India. Amazon’s video streaming app allows users to watch movies, popular English TV shows, old Indian TV serials, etc. The company also produces Hindi/English web series and streams them on Prime Video. Amazon Prime Video has a good collection of top-grossing or top-rated movies of various genres. It is integrated with IMDB. Hence, you can find other movies featuring your favorite actors, actresses, villains, etc. Prime Video displays a list of actors/actresses in the current scene when you tap on the video player’s interface or hover your mouse cursor over it. It allows users to enable subtitles, change the movie language, video quality, etc.
Netflix
Netflix is a great alternative to the above Indian live TV apps. Once you register an account with Netflix, the application will give you access to thousands of movies and TV shows on your mobile device. Netflix has the option to find movies or shows by their name. It lets you rate videos. Hence, you can quickly find top-rated films or plays on a mobile device. Netflix India has very cheap subscription plans.
Similar apps:
Final thoughts: When you’re at a public place or office, you can watch a TV show or live match featuring your favorite team if you install one of the 1st three Indian Live TV apps on your Android device. If your internet connection speed is slow, use Android news apps to get live scores and news on your favorite shows. Download and use Amazon Prime, Hotstar, or Netflix if you’re searching for an application to watch English content. If video streaming sites are blocked in your country or you’re not able to access them at your workplace, you can easily unlock them with Android VPN clients.
